Proteomic Insight Into the Ontogeny of Blood-Meal Digestion in the Tick Ixodes ricinus.

ABSTRACT: Ticks are important ectoparasites and vectors of a variety of pathogens in both animals and humans, and their increasing global distribution poses a growing health risk. Unlike other blood-feeding vectors, ticks feed for an extended period at each life stage and rely exclusively on blood for development and reproduction. Blood digestion in ticks is mediated by a complex multienzyme network within the endolysosomal system of the midgut (MG) epithelial cells. Previous studies have focused largely on protein digestion during the slow feeding phase. However, the processing of the blood meal after the mating-induced rapid engorgement ("big sip") remains unclear, although the rapid turnover of proteins from host blood proteins into yolk proteins in fully fed females is a crucial step for tick re

SUBMITTER: Kozelkova T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12466206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature